The Haunting Love by Taylor Fenner

The Haunting Love is a young adult paranormal romance novel set in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

What would you do if you never got to tell that one person how you felt? What if you could go back and tell them exactly how you felt? Seventeen-year-old Izabella “Iza” De Luca didn’t believe her crush, Johnny, could ever like her because she is curvier than the other girls at school. Meanwhile eighteen-year-old Johnny Becker doesn’t believe he has a chance with Iza; the smart, beautiful girl he has fallen for.

It isn’t until a fatal car crash traps Iza between the living and the dead that she can muster the courage to tell Johnny how she feels. But telling her true love how she feels does not relieve her from her burden. Soon she and her love, Johnny, find themselves in an all-out battle to keep their love alive. Nobody is safe when a demon named Devlin starts messing with everything and everyone they know.

Johnny and Iza will need the help of all of their friends to overpower Devlin. Can their love withstand all of the odds stacked against them or are they doomed from the start?

Targeted Age Group:: 13 and up

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I was inspired to write The Haunting Love when the thought “what if you never got to tell that one person how you felt?” and “what if you had the chance to go back and tell them exactly how you felt about them?” came to me. I was very shy in high school and there was a boy I really liked, but I never told him because I was afraid he would reject me because of how I look. I still, to this day, wonder what would have happened if I had had the confidence to say something.

I also want my potential readers to see that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. We live in a world where bullying has gotten way out of hand and I want my readers, especially young girls, to know that no matter what you look like; whether you’re skinny or chubby, blonde or brunette, the homecoming queen or the school outcast you deserve to be loved. And if you look hard enough there’s someone out there just for you.

How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
I came up with the character “Iza” because she in a way, is like me when I was younger. Shy, smart, and loyal, but afraid of rejection because she’s different than other girls. I’m not saying she is me, but in a way she reminds me of me.

The rest of my characters are a combination of being loosely based on people I know and characteristics of the kinds of friends any person would love to have.